A Catholic Blog
A priest writing reflections on theology, philosophy, and Catholicism. I'll occasionaly write movie reviews, rants, and discussion topics. I write from my experiences, personal and intellectual, for my benefit and yours (should you get any from it). None of what I write is official or representative of my diocese or parish, just my semi-public attempt at figuring things out and sharing it with you for the sake of dialogue.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Pentecost: The Fire of the Spirit

(Note: This was originally a homily given at Pentecost on May 24, 2015. I did not have a script and so the written version is a near-facsimilie, but lacking the timing and effect I went for when speaking publicly).

On this holy feast of Pentecost I would like us to reflect on the Spirit
and His work in our lives, namely that there are two ways which we use
one: we can use it to mean “alone” and we can use it to mean “together.”

How
is it that we’re alone? Paul in Galatians tells us that the works of
the flesh rip us apart and isolate us. The works of the flesh are envy,
greed, immorality, immodesty, lack of chastity, wrath and anger,
rivalry, and hatred (cf., Gal 5:16-19). We see this in our own lives and
we’ve all had these feelings. But we must recognize that these acts are
acts of power and control where we seek to impose our will on the world
and others, taking from the weak, the helpless, and those we consider
less than ourselves. These aspects gather all things to ourselves, but
isolate us and make us one and alone.

But the Spirit is something
better and greater. Humility, patience, gentleness, faithfulness, and
love. Each of these acts, paradoxically, ask us to give of ourselves
little by little, lifting the other up in charity and peace.

I
find no better example of this notion of alone and together than in
families. If a spouse, or even indeed a child, is greedy, jealous,
domineering, ungrateful, or mean-spirited, it tears a family apart. But
if all members of a family are patient, patient with each other’s
shortcomings, humble, knowing that they are not perfect or always right,
gentle in chiding them to a better life in Christ, and loving—that is,
self-sacrificing—than that family will stand firm for generations, in
life and in death. We all know of our weaknesses, whether they are
sexual, or matters of pride, jealousy, envy, gossip, or laziness. We all
share in these weaknesses of the flesh, but through grace we share in
the strength of the Holy Spirit.

It is the Spirit that affords us
these graces which God pours out so generously upon us. It is the
Spirit that allowed the Apostles to speak many languages, so that all
peoples and ages might hear one message. That one message is the love of
the Father, the victory of Christ Jesus over sin and death—a victory we
baptized share in, the presence of the Spirit of truth, and that the
Church, the bride of Christ, shares the glorious work of God on earth.

One
more image that I think is useful for us is the very bread that we
bless and consecrate at the holy altar. The bread that we use is made of
many grains, formed into one with water, and then finally baked by
fire.

We too, because of the work of the most blessed Trinity,
are made into one. We are gathered, all of us varied and different, by
the will of the Father. He calls us together and, through the blood of
the Son, we are prepared as one. Lastly, the Spirit, who is rightly
symbolized as a holy flame, perfects us in love and grace so that we
might become holy, that is like God. Thus we, brothers and sisters, are
prepared as a bread pleasing to almighty God, but not merely for Him,
but for the whole world. The blood and water that poured from Christ’s
side on the Cross prepare us for this task, and the Spirit strengthens
us along the way.

Like Christ, we are one Body and one Bread,
prepared for the world and given up for the sake of the world. For
everyone, not only us Catholics, but for all of our brothers and
sisters. We are given up for their sins, their weaknesses, and the evil
that they do, for we know that we too share in all the same weaknesses
and faults. We, nonetheless, rely on the power of the Trinity to make us
an acceptable offering for the whole world so that all of us, so many
scattered and alone, may be one in Spirit and in truth.